Benghazi returns to the spotlight

House Republicans on Thursday seized upon newly released documents from the White House to accuse the Obama administration of again lying about its role in drafting talking points about the 2012 terrorist attack in Libya — even going as far as to suggest that the White House behaved criminally.

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Pelosi: GOP Benghazi talk is 'diversion'

House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) accused President Barack Obama of misleading the public about the talking points used by then-U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to discuss the attack.

“It’s disturbing, and perhaps criminal, that these documents were kept from the public. It comes in a week in which the American people have learned that you cannot believe what the White House says…and you cannot believe what the president says,” Issa said at an Oversight hearing.

For nearly two years, Republicans have used this line of attack against the White House. The latest revelations are just a reminder that the GOP isn’t going to let the issue fade away — especially ahead of the 2014 midterm elections.

During an interview, Issa raised the possibility of holding White House officials in contempt. He’s upset that the administration provided his panel with redacted documents while releasing a more complete set of records to Judicial Watch, which filed a request for Benghazi-related information under the Freedom of Information Act.

“That would be an act of contempt if you did it before a judge,” Issa said. “We cannot allow this administration to continue to show, not just contempt, but to systematically defraud the American people out of getting to the truth.”

Speaker John Boehner also called on Thursday for Secretary of State John Kerry to testify on the documents.

“Someone needs to answer why this administration hid these documents – and tell the American people what else is being concealed,” he said in a statement. “The House used its subpoena power to obtain documents, including emails, last year, but these emails didn’t show up until now, after a court ordered their release to an outside watchdog group.”

Issa is no stranger to seeking contempt charges. He’s leading the effort for the House to find former IRS official Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress, a vote that could happen later this month.

Benghazi is an ongoing line of attack against the White House for Republicans — one that helps rile up the GOP base ahead of the 2014 midterm elections. The main campaign talking point for Republicans has been the unpopularity of Obamacare, but following the release of the Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes’ email this week, their attention again turned to this explosive issue.

“We have a major, major scandal,” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) on Fox News on Thursday, who has often played point on the issue for Republicans. “We have lies that are perpetuated by this White House.”

Conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer called the Rhodes email a “smoking document” and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has called it a “smoking gun.” Speaking on a radio show, Graham also called administration officials “scumbags.” Sen. John McCain, meanwhile, said the White House response to the attack was a “political exercise.”

In the nearly 19 months since Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed by armed Islamist gunmen, Republicans have used the terrorist attacks to criticize the White House for what they see as an attempt by the Obama administration to downplay their response to the attacks in favor of minimizing political fallout.

But Benghazi activity in Congress has slowed in recent months, seemingly because of a dearth of new allegations. The email was obtained by the conservative group Judicial Watch and outlined “goals” from Rhodes for Rice’s appearance on the Sunday talk shows.